Archive for the ‘wms mapserver security ogc’ tag
Web Mapping Services & Security
For the majority of public GIS systems I’ve worked on all the data in a database is available to users via the mapping interface. If someone wanted to hack in and “steal” data the only concern would be the bandwidth they took up. Security for these systems is fairly low down on the list of priorities, if it’s on the list at all.
GIS systems with organisational data are often only accessible (in theory) through an Intranet, so if the network is well protected then so isthe GIS.
There have only been a few mapping systems I’ve worked on where there is a mix of public data and datasets with restrictive access in the same database. The location of rare bird species (people will go to some lengths for a rare egg) and hallucinogenic mushrooms in a Biodiversity GIS being an example.
I’m currenty designing a MapServer system that will serve out WMS layers to the public, and a few which are limited to certain IP address ranges. WMS and security was something I had never previously investigated. The rest of this post outlines the current situation, and an attempt to restrict WMS access on my server.